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    Home » Recipes » Mains

    Spaghetti Napolitan (Japanese Ketchup Spaghetti)

    Published: Aug 26, 2021 · Modified: Dec 27, 2021 by Yuto Omura

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    Learn how to make this Japanese family favourite, Spaghetti Napolitan! Made with sausage, bell peppers, onion and mushrooms cooked in a sweet ketchup sauce, mixed with perfectly cooked, el dente pasta and topped with a fried egg.

    Spaghetti Napolitan (ketchup pasta) on a black plate topped with a fried egg

    What is Spaghetti Napolitan?

    Spaghetti Napolitan (スパゲッティナポリタン) is a classic Japanese style "wafu pasta" dish. It's easy to make and you can use accessible ingredients such as sausage, bell peppers, mushrooms and onions served in a simple ketchup sauce.

    Spaghetti Napolitan (ketchup pasta) on a black plate topped with a fried egg close up

    It's easily one of the most popular pasta dishes in Japan, often being served at home, in cafes and at "yoshoku" restaurants for instance. You can even buy a premade sauce at the supermarket!

    Like spicy foods? It's also popular to add a few drops of Tabasco sauce to kick it up a notch!

    Yoshoku (Western Style)

    Yoshoku (洋食) is a type of Japanese dish with Western influence and flavour. In fact, many yoshoku recipes contain ketchup. Other examples of yoshoku dishes include:

    • Hayashi Rice (Hashed beef stew with rice)
    • Curry Rice (Gravy-like curry with rice)
    • Hamburg steak (Thick meat patty often served with a demi-glace sauce)
    • Omurice (Ketchup rice wrapped in a fluffy omelette)

    I'd say that Spaghetti Napolitan is pretty much a pasta version of omurice, so if you like omurice, I'm sure you'll love this dish!

    Inside the omurice
    Omurice is made with ketchup flavoured fried rice. Ketchup lovers check out the recipe here!

    A brief history of Spaghetti Napolitan

    While the name "Spaghetti Napolitan" might sound like an Italian dish, actually, this ketchup infused pasta dish is a Japanese creation! I mean, Italians would never use ketchup on their pasta would they?

    It is said that Spaghetti Napolitan started in Yokohama. It was created by a chef named Shigetada Irie, who was working at the Hotel New Grand. He was inspired by a tomato sauce flavoured spaghetti dish that was served to the American Military. However, because tomato sauce was hard to come by at the time, he replaced it with ketchup and Spaghetti Napolitan was born!

    The dish was named after the Italian city of Napoli, known as Naples in English. In Japanese, you write Napoli as "ナポリ" or "Napori", which is why you often see the name written as "Spaghetti Naporitan".

    Spaghetti Napolitan (ketchup pasta) on a black plate topped with a fried egg top down

    Wafu Pasta

    Japan is a nation of pasta lovers and we have a whole array of dishes that combine Italian Pasta with local Japanese ingredients. We call these dishes "Wafu Pasta" (和風パスタ) which translates to "Japanese style pasta". Check out some of my tasty wafu pasta dishes!

    • Spaghetti Meat Sauce
    • Mentaiko Pasta (Cod Roe Spaghetti)
    • Butter Shoyu Mushroom and Bacon Pasta
    Fork cutting into fried egg on Spaghetti Napolitan (ketchup pasta)
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    Spaghetti Napolitan (ketchup pasta) on a black plate topped with a fried egg close up

    Spaghetti Napolitan (Japanese Ketchup Spaghetti)


    • Author: Yuto Omura
    • Total Time: 25 minutes
    • Yield: 2 portions 1x
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    Description

    How to make tasty family favourite, Spaghetti Napolitan with sausage, onions, bell peppers, mushrooms and ketchup sauce.


    Ingredients

    Scale
    • 3 litres Water
    • 2-3 Hotdog sausages
    • ½ White onion
    • ½ Green bell pepper
    • 3 Brown button mushrooms
    • 2 tsp Olive oil
    • 4 tbsp + 2 tbsp Ketchup
    • ½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce
    • 1 tbsp Unsalted butter
    • 1 tbsp Salt
    • 200g Spaghetti (1.7-1.8mm)
    • 2 Eggs
    • Salt and pepper
    • ½ tsp Grated Parmesan cheese
    • Dry parsley to garnish

    Instructions

    1. First, take a large pot and add 3 litres of water and bring it to a boil.
      a pot of water
    2. While waiting for the water to heat up, cut the onion, bell pepper and mushrooms into slices.
      sliced vegetables in a bowl
    3. Cut the sausages diagonally into 1cm slices. (Approx ½ inch)
      cutting hotdog sausages
    4. Heat up a large pan on medium, once hot add a drizzle of olive oil. Add the sausage slices and fry for 1-2 minutes. 
      frying hotdog sausages
    5. Add the onion and fry for 2 minutes. (If you prefer softer onions, you can swap step 4 and 5)
      frying sausages and onions in a pan
    6. Add the bell pepper and mushroom, fry for another 1-2 minutes. 
      frying peppers, mushrooms, onions and hotdogs
    7. Next, add 4 tbsp of ketchup and lower the heat to prevent the ketchup burning.
      adding ketchup to the pan
    8. Now add ½ tbsp of Worcestershire sauce and 1 tbsp of unsalted butter. 
      adding butter
    9. Mix well and allow the sauce to heat through. 
      frying ingredients in ketchup
    10. Take the pan off the heat and set aside. 
    11. Once your pot of water is boiling and add 1 tbsp salt.
      salting the pasta water
    12. Add the spaghetti and cook according to the instructions on the packaging. 
      adding spaghetti to boiling water
    13. Heat up a separate pan on medium and add a drizzle of oil. Crack in 2 eggs with a pinch of salt and pepper and fry to preference.
      sprinkling eggs with pepper while frying
    14. Take 1-2 tbsp of the pasta water and add it into the pan with the meat and vegetables.
      scooping pasta water
    15. Drain the rest of the water and transfer the pasta to the pan of sauce, return the pan to the heat. Mix well and allow to warm through. 
      mixing spaghetti napolitan
    16. Add ½ tsp of grated parmesan, a pinch of salt and pepper and 2 more tbsp of ketchup. Mix well.
      adding extra ketchup 
    17. Serve up and top with fried egg and a sprinkle of parsley. 
      topping with fried egg
    18. Enjoy!
      Fork cutting into fried egg on Spaghetti Napolitan (ketchup pasta)

    Notes

    You could also make this dish with bacon, ham and your preferred vegetables.

    You can spice it up with some Tabasco sauce!

    • Prep Time: 5 minutes
    • Cook Time: 20 minutes
    • Category: Fusion
    • Method: Boiling/frying
    • Cuisine: Japanese

    Keywords: Spaghetti napolitan, Napolitan spaghetti, ketchup spaghetti, Japanese spaghetti, Japanese ketchup spaghetti, spaghetti napolitan Japanese, Japanese napolitan spaghetti, yokohama napolitan spaghetti, spaghetti napolitan recipe, how to make spaghetti napolitan,what is spaghetti napolitan, spaghetti napolitan history

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    Thanks for visiting Sudachi Recipes. My name is Yuto and I'm a Japanese guy with a passion for food. Here I share tasty and accessible recipes so that you can bring a taste of Japan to your own kitchen.

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